Three-D Issue 19: Journalism Education: new journal

The first issue of Journalism Education appeared in April 2012. Published with the support of the Association for Journalism Education (AJE), the online journal is available for free via the AJE website.

Journalism Education is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to publishing original research articles, commentaries and reviews of interest to everyone actively involved in teaching and research in this field of enquiry.

The journals editors – Mick Temple (Staffordshire), Chris Frost (Liverpool John Moores), Jenny McKay (Sunderland) and Stuart Allan (Bournemouth) – hope to encourage stimulating dialogue and debate. Working closely with an editorial board as well as an extensive network of academic referees, the editors will oversee the publication of two issues of the journal per year.

In a nutshell, the journal’s aim is to reinvigorate current thinking in a manner alert to the importance of aligning academic scholarship with real-world, professional priorities. It is interdisciplinary in its scope, inviting contributions from a diverse array of approaches committed to identifying, exploring and critiquing pressing issues of common concern.

At a time when journalism’s very status within modern societies is being profoundly recast by formidable challenges, it is hardly surprising that discussions about what counts as ‘journalism education’ tend to be rather lively. Contributors are encouraged to revisit familiar assumptions with a critical eye, as well as to inspire fresh perspectives about new ways forward.

Each issue will be organised into three sections, namely ‘Articles,’ ‘Comment and criticism,’ and ‘Reviews’ (the latter being composed principally of book reviews, though may also include appraisals of other media forms, policy documents, as well as conferences or exhibitions, and the like).

The first issue included six articles. ‘Tweeting with the Enemy,’ by John Price, Neil Farrington and Lee Hall, investigates how Twitter is influencing sports reporting, in part by drawing on interviews with members of a press pack. Chris Frost’s ‘Newspapers on the Naughty Step’ engages with several issues at the heart of the Leveson Inquiry, including whether self-regulation espoused by the Press Complaints Commission has been sufficiently effective in recent years.

‘Hyper-local Learning,’ by David Baines, reports on a case study revolving around the development of a hyper-local news website with an eye to its potential for enhancing teaching and learning (the reporters, ‘content providers’ and editors were journalism students working as volunteers). In ‘Deer Departed,’ Alec Charles examines the national press coverage of a curious news story, namely the death of a red deer stag regarded as Britain’s largest wild animal, in order to assess its wider symbolic resonances – not least where national identity is concerned.

Steve Harrison’s ‘Twitter – What is it Good for?’ is a provocative enquiry into how social networks engender ‘ambient communities,’ the practical implications of which are considered via a pilot study among journalism students using Twitter. Lastly, ‘Global Citizens’ by Roman Gerodimos makes the case for revising the journalism curriculum to place a greater emphasis on global current affairs, offering insights gained by his experience crafting pertinent pedagogical strategies intended to encourage innovative forms of storytelling amongst undergraduates.

The ‘Comment and criticism’ section presented five short, sharp essays intended as interventions of sorts. Specifically, ‘Confessions of a Hackademic’ by Tony Harcup, ‘Newsreaders as Eye-candy’ by Claire Wolfe and Babara Mitra, ‘‘Mission Aborted’ by James Stewart, and ‘All Journalism is not the Same’ by Tor Clark. A final essay, ‘AJE evidence to the Leveson Inquiry,’ rounds out this section.

The ‘Reviews’ section, overseen by Reviews editor Tor Clark, presented six book reviews. If you have a book you would like to review or have come across a new one we should consider including, please get in touch.

It is early days, but we are confident Journalism Education is off to a strong start. It is open access in the true sense in that it is free to readers as well as to authors, thanks to the AJE’s membership covering the costs associated with the website as part of their subscription fees. It is hoped the journal will complement the existing peer-reviewed journals while, at the same time, providing an alternative provision consistent with the AJE’s dedication to promoting dialogue amongst those involved in teaching journalism in higher education.

MeCCSA members are warmly invited to help make this journal relevant to your engagement with news and journalism studies. May it reflect on its pages your insights, passions and convictions and, in so doing, enrich the quality of teaching and research in this dimension of our field in the years ahead.

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